Andhra Pradesh government names Konaseema district after Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar

People offer floral tribute to Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s statue after the announcement of the renaming of Konaseema district.

Just six weeks after it had officially redrawn the State’s district map by carving out 13 new districts, the Andhra Pradesh government has announced that Konaseema district will now be renamed Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar Konaseema district. The district’s headquarters will be at Amalapuram.

The Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy government has issued a preliminary notification on May 18, inviting any objections or suggestions to the proposal from people living in the district. The final notification will be issued after 30 days.

The move comes in the wake of Dalit organisations demanding that a district in the State must be named after one of the main architects of the Indian Constitution. After initially stonewalling their demands, the State government has now decided to name the district after Dr B.R. Ambedkar. The decision comes two days after Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy visited Konaseema district.

The Konaseema region, which was carved out as a new district from the erstwhile East Godavari district, is part of the Amalapuram (SC-reserved) Lok Sabha constituency. With a considerable Dalit population, it is spread over 2,081 sq km with a population of nearly 17 lakh. The Amalapuram Assembly constituency is represented by Pinepi Viswaroop, Andhra Pradesh’s Transport Minister.